


Tides

by SicklySweetness



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anyways it's midnight and I wrote this in like an hour, I don't know what I'm doing this is my first fic on here, Listen I need more mermaid Lance and no one is providing the shit I CRAVE, M/M, Spanish Lance (Voltron), a little langst, mermaid lance, mermaid!lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-29 20:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12092349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SicklySweetness/pseuds/SicklySweetness
Summary: Lance always had a weird connection to water. As a child, he would insistently request oceanic books, even though he could never read the words, he loved looking at the pictures of the strange animals. At age 10 Lance found out where this fascination with aquatic creatures stemmed from. He wasn’t quite the young boy everyone thought he was, no, Lance was special in a way that not even the best scientists could know how to fix or even comprehend.Mermaid Lance fic because honestly I crave this content. I'll likely put more chapters but who knows lmao[Edit: Updates are sporadic but they happen! Sorry y'all i'm a m e s s]





	1. Chapter 1- Preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith falls out of the sky and Lance is the only one able to save him, but not in any method the Paladin's could have thought of.

Lance always had a weird connection to water. As a child, he would insistently request oceanic books, even though he could never read the words, he loved looking at the pictures of the strange animals. At age 10 Lance found out where this fascination with aquatic creatures stemmed from. He wasn’t quite the young boy everyone thought he was, no, Lance was special in a way that not even the best scientists could know how to fix or even comprehend.

* * *

 

_It was a sunny day, the warm rays dancing to an unknown rhythm beneath the water. Lance was playing with his siblings at the beach, their favorite place to go on perfect days like this. Young Lance had noticed a funny looking fish in the shallow water and, unnoticed by his family, he began to swim further and further from the shore. By the time he had lost his fishy friend, Lance was already scarily far away from the shore. Panic began to rise in his chest as multiple things clicked at once in his young brain._

**_He’s away from the group._ **

**_He’s going to be in so much trouble when mama finds out!_ **

**_He doesn’t remember swimming this far out._ **

_He doesn’t know what to do when a large wave is coming towards him. In a matter of sheer seconds, Lance was swallowed whole by the water and the salt burned his eyes as he tried to open them. The brief glimpse he got of his surroundings, though, showed that he was heading right for the seafloor. His head made a quiet **CRACK** as it hit a rock, the blood being yanked away by the tide, much like his body. The aching in Lance’s chest reminded him of the fact that he couldn’t breathe underwater. Scrambling and flailing wildly, he tried his best to return to the surface, only to be dragged down again by the tide. _

_As his head began to feel light, Lance wanted to cry and scream. He wanted to kick and flail more to try and return to the surface again, but his muscles refused to work._

_His brain, for a moment, pulled out his minor knowledge of how irony worked and, had he been able to breathe, he probably would have giggled a little at the irony of the situation. A sudden blossom of pain from his neck pulled his attention away from how irony works, though. He let out a weak whimper as black dots began to cloud his limited, blurry vision. His neck began burning and itching as he slowly started losing feeling in his legs. In fact, his whole body had begun to burn._

_‘ **Is this what death is?** ’_

_Lance quickly realized that he hadn’t passed out yet. And that he’s... Breathing? He blinked, and managed to actually open his eyes!_

_“Por qué..?” He could see clearly! What was this magic he had been bestowed with?! Lance finally broke the surface of the water and called out to his family, who were looking around frantically for the second youngest member._

_"Estoy aquí!” He waved them over, not noticing the sparkling scales littering his body until he tried to stand up, realizing that he didn't actually posess legs. Mama and Papa instantly began questioning if he was alright and saying he shouldn’t have wandered off like that, seeming to ignore the fact that their son is nearly completely a fish._

_Lance apologized profusely before promptly bursting into tears and wailing about how he couldn’t feel his legs._

_Lance was a merman, simple as that. Perhaps it was his piercing blue eyes or his affinity with water that gave it away, but his parents had seemed to have already agreed on what to do if this situation ever arose. They told him to breathe, which was very hard to do when breathing air with gills, but gradually his body began to feel warm and tingly before he could stand, albeit with a little trouble, and he was his normal self again._

* * *

 

Lance never really thought his aquatic abilities would ever actually be needed. But then again, he didn’t expect to be launched into space with his BFF, a nerdy introvert, his rival and his hero.

Nor did he expect to see said rival be launched from a Galra ship, straight into the icy waters of the planet they were currently fighting to protect.

“Shiro, I’m going to get Kieth!”

“That gap in the ice is too small for your lion, Lance!”

“Yeah, I know.”

Lance landed Blue on the sturdiest ice he could find on short notice and began bolting towards the gap Kieth fell through.

“Lance, what are you doing?” Hunk’s voice was laced with worry as he spotted the blue paladin running towards the liquid death trap. “Wait- Where’s your paladin armour?!”

“I’m getting Kieth! Don’t worry about me, big guy! Just keep those Galra fighters away from Blue until I get back. I’ll only be a tick!”

And with that, Lance disappeared into the water.


	2. Chapter 2 - Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance goes to save his boyfriend and nearly dies in the process. But hey, what else is new?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes are at the start this time! The gore in this chapter is pretty minimal, so dw. But who's ready for a bit of good ol' Langst?
> 
> I also want to give a huge thanks to the people who asked for more chapters! It really means a lot to me, thank you!!

An excited chill ran up Lance’s spine as a familiar warmth spread through his body. It didn’t hurt to shift anymore, it was almost as natural as riding a bike. As he swam deeper into the water, he could hear the concerned yelling of his teammates. Lance, of course, left his helmet on so that if he needed a hand or to try and talk to Keith, he could.  
Once his tail had fully formed, the bioluminescant bacteria that helped keep his body stable in different waters shone to life, warding away any smaller predators that had begun to drift a little too close. He didn’t have time for a fight, he needed to get Keith and get out.   
“C’mon, Keith… Where are you, buddy..?”  
After a few moments of piercing silence, Lance heard a pained groan in reply to his query. He gasped, water rushing in and out of his gills as his breathing sped up, along with his pace. His shining blue tail left a trail of bubbles as he raced like a shark having just found its prey.

  
After what felt like far too long, Lance finally stumbled upon his rival’s body. He picked Keith up and checked him over, finding only a broken arm and, what he can only assume, is a probable cut on the back of his head from an impact with something. Keith’s helmet was also cracked, meaning that Lance had even less time to get him to the surface. Sometimes he wished his friends were just mermaids like him so this wasn’t an issue, but then who would be the quirkiest? He smiles, glad to be the coolest, if not weirdest, out of the team.   
'The Sharpshooter Merman! Hey, that has a nice ring to it-' Lance’s attention was snapped back to Keith as he heard another groan.  
“Keith, are you okay?” Lance’s voice was laced with worry, but he honestly didn’t expect an answer, at least not yet.  
“Lance..?” He was proved wrong.  
“Hey, mullet! Good to see you’re done slacking off at the bottom of the ocean!”  
“Wait, the bott-“ Keith paused, his eyes adjusting to the dark a little more. “Lance..?”  
“What?”  
Keith stared at the gorgeous man before him, a guy who always seemed to want to be better than him in every way, which drove Keith insane for very weird reasons. It took him a few ticks before he could actually process what he was seeing. Lance was a mermaid. _Lance was a goddamn mermaid._

Before Keith sat Lance, floating effortlessly in place, eyes surrounded by glowing blue dots that spiraled and dotted his body, much like the assortment of scales that shone dimly with different shades of blue. His pupils were slits as they scanned the area around the two fir dangers that Keith couldn’t see. Fins protruded from his elbows, and as Lance turned around, Keith could see the large, dangerous looking dorsal fin on his back. But the thing that really caught Keiths eye was Lance’s tail. It was incredible. A few barbs stuck out from the fins that lined the sides of the tail while the bottom fin flowed elegantly in the water, held sturdy by only a few barbs. The power Lance’s tail possessed, though, was blatantly clear.

  
“Hellooo? Earth to Keith?”  
“Wha- Oh. Uh.” Keith stumbled on his words, the drowsiness of his recent unwilling nap and the awe of seeing Lance like this shook him to his very core, leaving his brain almost mush.  
Lance gave Keith’s shoulder a soft shove. “Hey, how hard did you hit your head?” There’s only the slightest twinge of concern in the merman’s voice, however it’s expertly covered up by humour. Lance decided then was as good a time as any to grab Keith gently and began ascending. The team were probably screaming their concerns at him by then.   
“I can swim, you know.” Keith’s eyes narrowed.  
“I know, you just don’t swim fast enough.” Lance smirked and pulled Keith close, much to the Red Paladin’s protest, and picked up speed substantially. This shut Keith up pretty quickly. Though, he still had one blatantly obvious question he wanted to ask.  
“So… You’re a mermaid?”  
“Merman, but yeah. Thought that was kinda clear, buddy.” Lance laughed and added a soft, unheard sigh at the end. He knew this was going to turn into an interrogation.  
“For how long?”  
“How long what?” Lance chose to play dumb. It’s kind of his thing, anyways.  
“How long have you known you were a merman, Lance.” Keith knew what the blue paladin was doing. He wasn't letting him get away without at least a few questions.  
“Since I was ten.”  
“Is anyone else in your family a mermaid?”  
“No.” He’s not going into the details of that.  
“Okay, how-“ Keith was cut off, though, as something emerged from the darkness and rammed into Lance, causing him to go flying back into the inky darkness of the water. “Lance!”  
All Keith could see was a mess of bioluminescant lights appearing and vanishing in and out of his limited vision.

After what felt like minutes, Lance returned to Keith, only just putting his helmet back on. He didn’t look too great, a few of his fins had some tears and his body was covered in bite marks. Lance kind of regretted not bringing the top half of his armour.  
“You okay?” Lance was breathing heavily through the comms.  
“Am _I_ okay?! Of course I’m okay, what about _you_?!” Worry caused Keith’s chest to tighten. Would Lance be able to swim? The end of his tail is still intact but it’d likely hurt to move.  
“I’m fine, I’ll get into a pod when we get back, okay?” Lance grabbed hold of Keith again and began swimming a bit slower than before, clenching his sharp teeth together. The taste of that alien shark’s blood was awful in his mouth. He didn’t like having to hurt marine animals. They’re his friends! He tried to talk to it but it just told him to leave Keith if he wanted to get out of there unharmed. Yeah he wasn’t having any of that b-s.

  
A few ticks of silence passed. Keth chewed on his lip for most of them. “Are you going to tell the team?”  
Lance blinked. “No.” He answered without thinking. What would they think? He felt lucky Keith was so calm about it. Or was he silently resenting Lance now because he’s a freak? Just like... No.  
“What, why?” Lance’s reply left Keith confused. Why wouldn’t he want to let the team know? This could be a huge tactical advantage of they could utilize if they ever found a water world!  
“They don’t need to know.” Not yet. Lance wasn’t mentally prepared for that kind of reveal.  
“Wh- Yes they do! Lance what you can do is incredibly helpful if we’re ever stuck on a planet made mostly, if not entirely, of water!”   
Helpful? “Keith, I can’t.” Lance bit his lip, accidentally drawing blood. What if they hated him? They probably already did.  
“Why not?!”  
Lance averted his eyes away from Keith and pretended to ignore him. Keith sighed and dropped the subject. He plans to talk about it with Lance later. He can’t keep this a secret forever. One of the first of those dumb paladin rules was to trust each other, and that meant no secrets!

* * *

 

_Lance was eleven. After the incident at the beach, Mama and Papa decided to get a pool at home so the family could still swim, just not in a public place because of him. At first the younger half of his siblings, only two or three years away from his age, were angry at him, but after some explaining and Lance crying, they were alright with it. Mama made up for the lack of sand and waves by bringing home lots of pool toys and Lance really liked the mechanical fish._   
_Not too far into the year, it was getting warmer. So warm, that Lance invited some of his best friends to come to his house for a pool party. He would have invited Hunk, his ‘Bestest Friend in the Whole Wide World,’ but he was visiting family in a place that Lance couldn’t pronounce._   
_Lance was forever grateful that Hunk wasn’t there._   
_He asked his best buds if they wanted to see something really cool and, after they agreed, Lance swam beneath the surface of the pool, closed his eyes, and thought really hard about being a mermaid. This was the only method he really had at the time, but it worked, much to his friends curiosity and fear. He rose back to the surface and smiled expectantly._   
_His friends never talked to him again._   
_When Hunk returned to school a week later, he was greeted with a sad looking Lance sitting all by himself. Lance never told him what happened._

* * *

 

Lance blinked as they broke through the surface of the water, lifting Keith onto the ice before him. He dipped lower into the water instinctively, the loud noise of the battle raging above startling him for a second. He was beginning to miss the quietness under the water. Lance lifted his head back out of the water as Keith offered his good arm, holding the other close to his body. Lance smiled softly and grabbed the hand, his body already shifting back to appear human. He stood, his legs still bleeding and shaking, as he leaned on Keith for support. Once the blue paladin had his armour back on and the two were in the blue lion, Lance’s voice returned to the busy comms.  
“Hey guys, you miss me?” Lance was struggling to keep a quirky personality, the armour wasn’t really helping suppress the blood flow like Lance had hoped.  
“Lance!” They called his name out in unison before asking rapid-fire questions.  
“Are you okay?”  
“Did you get Keith?”  
“What took you so long?”  
“I’m fi-“ Lance was cut off by Keith.  
“Allura can you prepare a healing pod for Lance?” The blue paladin squinted at him.  
“Oh- Alright? It's wonderful to know you're both okay.” She sounded worried, confused and relieved all at the same time.  
After everyone had rejoiced that Keith was okay and in Blue, they began working at top speed to finish the fight, which thankfully only took a few minutes and, to Keith’s relief, minimal work from the injured Lance.  
“Well done Paladins!” Allura's voice chipped in once the battle was won.  
As everyone began returning to the castle, Shiro lagged behind to go and grab the red lion.

The second Blue was landed back in its chamber, Keith was nearly dragging Lance to the med bay. They passed the other Paladins on their way, as Lance greeted them cheerfully and said a quick one-liner, Keith sighed. The others rolled their eyes and laughed. 

Pidge was about to question why Lance needed a pod, before she noticed the blood dripping out of Lance’s suit. She went absolutely silent as the others followed her gaze.  
“What… Happened out there..?”   
Keith didn’t reply, though that was expected from him, but what scared Pidge was the fact that Lance did the exact same thing. All Lance did was turn his head a little and smile gently. Everyone was left stunned as the two quickly made their way to the med bay.


	3. Chapter 3- Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Coran and Keith have a moment, Keith realizes he's gay and Shiro is a Dad.

The medical bay was silent, save for the soft hum of the castle that could be heard from just about every room. Coran broke the silence first. “I’m sorry for not warning you before you went out there, I.” The Altean paused and sighed. “I didn’t think you’d need to get out of your lions, let alone without gear. What was that boy thinking?”  
“It’s not your fault, Coran. Lance would’ve been a selfless idiot regardless of what warnings you gave.” Keith sighed and shook his head. “He probably thought that without the extra gear needing to adjust, he could move faster. Lance was never great with science.” The boy let out a gentle gulty laugh. “If anything, it was my fault for not paying attention.”  
“Now who’s spouting nonsense, eh?” Coran raised an eyebrow at Keith. After a few seconds they both smiled with a genuine recognition that they were both at fault in one crazy way or another.

Silence took over the room again, the two males not sure how to continue their chat. It gave time for Keith to think, and god was he grateful for that. The second they returned to The Castle of Lions, the young Texan’s mind was racing with all of the new information he now had about this seemingly simple and egotistical Spanish boy. His mind churned as he sat, thinking about Lance, about what he did to save his life, what he risked when he jumped into that water. But one of the more important things was how Keith thought of Lance relationship-wise. He always resented Lance for his natural glow, his well-kept, soft brown locks, his piercing blue eyes… But now it all seemed to click. Of course he was unnaturally attractive, he’s a merman!

"You alright there, Keith? Did you catch a cold?” Coran broke Keith’s raging train of thought as he realized his face was burning.  
“No, no. I’m fine.” Keith brushed it off as another thought wormed its way out of the mess. Should Coran know? Does he already know? He would know, right? You can’t just hide secret merman traits from your space uncle who’s also happened to have seen you butt naked after you needed to recover from a coma. Even then, Lance wouldn’t mind the second person he trusts most on the ship finding out via is rival, right? Yes, of course he wouldn’t mind!

“Hey, Coran?” The Altean made a quiet noise to signify that he was listening. “Do you know about Lance’s, uh.” What’s the right wording for this? “Situation?” Perfect, Keith. You absolute asshat.  
“Are you referring to his genetics or his genitals?” Coran asked with a calm expression and a curious hint to his voice.  
The question caused Keiths face to light up immediately. “His genetics, his genetics!”

Keith desperately tried to wipe the picture of Lance naked from his mind. _‘Why, God?’_

“Oh, yes. I am aware of his ‘merman’ traits, as you humans call them.” He sounded confused as to why Keith was so flustered but decided not to ask.  
“Oh.” Keith sighed in relief. “I thought you would, I just.” He shrugs loosely. “Wanted to check. It’s kind of a heavy secret that I feel the need to talk about to fully understand?” He spoke with an unsure tone, as if he didn’t want to phrase it like that but couldn’t think of another way.

“It’s alright, my boy! We can talk about it if you like-“  
“Is Lance okay?!”

Coran was interrupted at the end of his sentence by the other members of Voltron storming through the door like a hoarde of soccer mom's that just found out their baby lost today's game due to fowl play. Keith jumped and whipped his head around so fast that he felt a tad nauseous.  
“Yes, yes, he’s alright and healing nicely! Our friend should be out of there in about two or three ‘days’.” Coran had started using days, months and years since he, Pidge and Hunk taught each other different methods of recording time from other planets. Although, the Altean still wasn’t quite used to the word yet.

“Oh thank goodness.” Allura breathed deeply, holding Shiro’s arm for support.

“What he did out there was dangerous and irresponsible.” The man himself sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Taking care of two aliens and four teenagers was draining. Shiro never did see the appeal of having children, even though he often babysit Pidge when she was younger. “But I’m glad that neither of you are fatally hurt.” He looks to the healing pod with a grimace. “What could have done that to him?”

Keith swore he felt his heart stop as his throat closed up and his lungs refused to expand and take in air. _‘How in the everloving fuck am I supposed to explain this?’_  
But it seemed fate, or at least Coran’s ability to lie, was merciful for a moment.  
“I would like to apologize on my behalf, I should have told you all about the creatures under that ice. Kalmarians aren’t really the nicest bunch to outsiders.” Coran piped up, quickly giving Keith an idea.  
“They tore Lance’s armour off when they attacked us.” He lied, hoping his downcast expression would hide the anxiety that was causing his heart to race. Lance entrusted the second most important thing in his life to him, he couldn’t ruin this.

"They must be really awful if they’d do that to Lance, of all people.” Hunk gave the male Altean a reassuring pat as he looked at his childhood friend. It killed him to see Lance in this state. He really hoped he got better soon.  
Keith thanked whatever divine power there is out there that they bought it.

“You all should rest.” Allura prompted gently. “You fought well today. Lance will still be here when you all awake tomorrow.” She gave them a tired smile.  
“Okay, make sure to rest too.” Hunk smiled and left, Pidge trailing behind after placing her hand on the glass and whispering a soft ‘goodnight’ to their comatose friend.  
Shiro spoke with Allura quietly as Keith stared at Lance for a little longer, taking in the gentle grimace visible on his face.

_‘I’m sorry Lance.’_ He thought before Shiro tapped him gently on the shoulder, a silent request for them to leave together so they could talk. With one last glance around the room and a gentle wave to Allura and Coran, he left with Shiro.

It took a few minutes of walking in silence for Shiro to pipe up. “Are you alright, Keith?”  
The question surprised the young man slightly. “Yeah, why?”  
“You’ve seemed… Out of it since you came back. Did you get hurt too?”  
Keith raised his arms defensively as Shiro gave him a worried stare. “No, I’m fine. I just- If I hadn’t been so reckless…”  
Shiro let out a gentle disapproving, but understanding sigh. “Keith, it’s not your fault. That wasn’t an easy battle back there, you did a lot more than you give yourself credit for.” He recalls Keith barking orders when he had his hands full. While normal leaders wouldn’t accept that type of behavior in the middle of a battle, the act lifted a lot of weight from Shiro’s shoulders, allowing him to place more of his focus on the fight.

Keith sighs. “He… There was so much blood, I-“ Keith swallows. “I don’t know how Lance could still fight like that.”  
Shiro nodded in agreement. Lance’s persistence was admirable, even if it sometimes put him in more danger than his selflessness. The older man gave Keith’s shoulder a gentle squeeze with his flesh arm. It means much more to feel the warmth of Shiro’s real arm than the man can know.  
Keith swallows thickly as he reaches his room. “See you tomorrow.”  
“See you tomorrow.” Shiro echoes, partially upset at the conversation ending so early. “You know if there’s anything wrong, I’m always around to listen, right?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Keith gave him a small smile before turning into his room for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lived, bitch.
> 
> I'm so fucking sorry for literally dying on you guys, but I kinda started hating this fic for a while. Nothing I wrote felt right, y'know? But here I am, back in the game with a rough idea on how I want this story to go!
> 
> I'm really sorry tho, I'll do my best to not make y'all wait months for a new update


End file.
